back in time
by sergeant peace
Summary: Chief, the arbiter, and Johnson have barely escaped the explosion of the Ark, now their crashlanded on earth, but instead of coming back to the modern earth they have been hurled back in time to the Bronze age, with Johnson and the Arbiter missing, can Chief find his team and get them home before it's too late?
1. Chapter 1

Chief walked off the pelican and into the hangar bay of the Forward onto dawn, "chief!" Johnson shouted running over, "about time you got your ass on this boat, we need to make the jump to earth now!"

"I got hung up back their, guilty sparks went crazy."

"Tell me something I don't know," Johnsons grumbled as the ship started taking off.

"Why are you and your men on the Dawn? I said to get them on the Elites flagship.

"I couldn't leave you and the Arbiter to try and get this bird flying, there's only two of you."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry Cortana, I meant three." Johnson turned around, "Foxtrot! Get this pelican situated, if we have a rocky trip home I don't want that damn thing to fall and crush anyone!"

"Sir yes sir!" they shouted and ran over to the pelican.

Chief walked up to the bridge as the ship started to move, "so it's finally over?" Johnson asked.

"It's over." Chief said, 'now all we have to do is keep this peace."

"That' going to be hard for you Chief, you were made for war."

"Guess I'll have to be made for something else." Chief muttered as he got onto the bridge, the sparse crew was working over time to get the coordinates to earth programed. Chief took Cortana out of his helmet and inserted her into the computers mainframe, "ah good to be home." Cortana said.

Chief walked to the view port and looked out just as the ark exploded.

"Making the jump to slip space." She said, "Hold on…there's a space storm coming up... this is odd…"

The ship rocked and the electrical equipment sparked and fizzed, "Cortana what was that!" chief asked running over.

"It looks like we were just hit by some form of lightning," she said, "I can't make any sense of it." the ship entered slip space, but something was odd, "uh slip space should not look like this," she muttered.

The ship shook violently, "Cortana are the inertial dampeners on?" Chief shouted.

"They're on maximum power." Cortana shouted as the ship shook violently again.

"Chief what the hell is going on up there!" Johnson shouted over the comms.

"We don't know Sergeant, get you and your men strapped in somewhere, it might be a rough landing."

The ship suddenly dropped out of slip space, "this is not good." Cortana said, as the ship shut down, "everyone hang on, we're going in for a hard landing."

"That trip was too short for us to be at earth yet." Chief said.

"We're at earth…but it's different…for one thing I'm not picking up any Chatter, there's no satellites…no Military Chatter…not even Civilian chatter."

The ship hit the atmosphere and started burning up.

"Everyone brace yourselves!" Chief shouted. "Cortana get the power back on!"

'I'm trying! It's hard to turn something on that was forced off!"

Chief looked out the flame-engulfed windows, "where are we going to land!"

"Looks like…Greece…now this is really weird, there's none of the modern cities that are usually there."

"Is it going to be a splash down?" Chief asked, then there was an explosion.

"Well it was, until I got the engines back on and one of them exploded, now we're spiraling out of control and heading straight for land."

"Anything we can do?" chief asked.

"Um I would suggest praying." Cortana said as the ship slammed into the ground.

Johnson felt the jar of the impact from where he was sitting in one of the tanks, he felt it fly out of the ship and tumble across the ground, when it stopped rolling he got out and looked at the tank, "damn, good piece of military hardware gone to shit." He said kicking the treads, " anyone still up!" he shouted into the comms.

"Fire team Foxtrot still up sir." He heard someone say in the comms. "We're a little banged up but we're alright."

"What is your position over.'

"We're a few clicks north of where new Athens was."

"Was? What the hell do you mean was?"

"Well when we were coming down I checked for any cities around and I couldn't see any buildings."

Johnson swore, "alright where is the dawn?" he asked

"We do not know sir, its status went dark as soon as we crashed."

Johnson looked around, "alright, I'm heading your way." He jumped down off of the tank and started running through the countryside, "hell jumper hell jumper where you been? Feet first to hell then back again, if I die please bury me deep an MA5 down at my feet, don't you cry don't' shed no tear just pack my box full of PT gear," He chanted as he ran, ''cause one early morning bout 0'5 the sky will darken there'll be lightning in the sky, don't you fret don't come undone it's just my ghost on a PT run." He kept repeating it until he reached the Fire team, "status report!" he shouted as he walked in, and the five men jumped up and saluted, "what kind of hardware do we have?"

"We have three warthogs, their wheels are all punctured but the chain gun on the back is still good, we have four boxes full of munitions and weapons, we haven't sorted through them all but from the looks of it we have seven, MA5B assault rifles, three BR's one DMR, two Sniper rifles, one sniper is wrecked though, and one Rocket launcher.'

"What is the Munitions count for those weapons?"

"We have enough clips to supply everyone with an Assault rifle with 5 clips each, the BRs only have enough for two clips per BR, the DMR doesn't have any ammunition so that guns out of the question, the sniper rifle has a half dozen clips, and the rocket launcher only has two shots left."

Johnson nodded, "alright Marines here's the plan, we are going to fortify this position, and hold out until a rescue crew can come to find us." He looked over at the Pelican, "what shape is the Pelican in?"

"It's got a full tank of gas, and the electronics still work, but it's still stalling, I got a mechanic looking at it right now."

Johnson looked over at the Pelican again and saw that someone was Cussing and throwing parts around, "soldier!" he shouted over to the Pelican.

"Eh? I am no soldier!" The Mechanic muttered then got out of the pelican, "what do ye want!"

"What is wrong with the Pelican?"

"The gas lines have been completely severed, we will need to replace them, and the sparkplugs have all shot off, you'll need to either find them or get replacements."

"Can you bind the gas lines back together?" he asked.

"Well yeah, but the binding might not hold."

'Well wrap the bindings around about three times, and try and use bots for the sparkplugs,'

"That might not hold!" he shouted.

"Just do it!" he shouted, "We need to be able to scout this position."

The mechanic grumbled and got back into the Pelican.

"Alright men, GET TO WORK!"

"OORAH!" the men shouted and started to move crates and warthogs

Something watched them from the tree line, 'who are these people? I have not seen the likes of them before?"

"And their weapons look different too, look at the one the dark skinned one is carrying, you cannot stab someone with that."

"We'll find out how well their weapons work tomorrow, for now lets get back.

"Chief," Cortana said, "Chief wake up."

Chief opened his eye's and looked around, "Cortana," he said looking around at the dead crew, "are there any survivors,"

"From what I know, only one fire team survived."

"Which one?" he asked standing up.

"Foxtrot, I haven't been able to contact them, so I'm considering them MIA until we find them."

Chief stood up and walked over to the AI pedestal, "Cortana, what happened when we entered slip space?"

"I really don't know chief, from what Information I have, we were hit by some random lightning while we made the jump, and that somehow made us do something unexpected."

"What was unexpected?"

"It…it made us go back in time."

"Cortana if you're trying to make a joke…"

"No I'm completely serious, I 've checked and rechecked the maps, we are on earth, but from looking at the video of the surrounding landscape, I should be seeing ships and buildings, but what I'm seeing is forests, tall mountains that have long been gone."

"So what your saying is, we've been sent back in time, the question is, how far?"

"Correct, now I know we've been sent back pretty far, but I don't know exactly how far, but what I do know is that if they see you in that armor, they'll question when you actually came from."

"Don't you mean where?"

"No I mean when."

"So I have to take off my Armor."

"Yes, we don't want these people thinking your some kind of god."

Chief sighed, "alright, I'm going to take it off, and do some recon, as soon as I find out anything I'll come back and report."

"Alright, I'll stay here and try to establish communications with the marines."

Chief nodded and walked down the corridor.

The next day Johnson walked out of the pelican where he had been sleeping, he walked over to the three men on watch, "anything Corporal?" he called up to one of them.

"Nothing sir!" the corporal shouted, "we've seen a few wildlife but nothing yet!"

"Keep it up,"

"Yes sir!" he said and turned around, and then he was hit off the back of the warthog by a spear.

The other two turned their turrets to where the spear had come from as a loud battle cry rang out, and a wave of armored men charged down the hill, shields up and spears at the ready.

"Greek warriors…" Johnson muttered, "something's weird here." He ran over to the corporal, "you alright son?"

"Yes sir!" he said pulling the spear out of his gear, 'it hit my gear."

Johnson nodded, "everyone get your Asses up, this is not a drill!" he climbed onto the chain gun and said, "Light them up, injure them if you can, if not kill them." He clicked the safety off and pulled the trigger, "short burst men!"

The team of six men took up defensive positions and fired on the soldiers, most fell to the ground, the bullets piercing their shields and armor, but a few stopped and threw their spears, one of the privates was hit by the spear and he flew back, pinned to the ground.

"Fuck it, kill them all!" Johnsons shouted, then was hit in the back by something, he turned around as a hail of arrows fell into the camp, "get to cover!" he shouted and the marines ran and jumped into the pelican and under the warthogs, the distraction with the arrows gave the Greek warriors enough time to charge into the camp. One of them ran into the pelican screaming for blood.

"Hello sunshine." Johnsons said and blew him away with a shot from his shotgun. "Close quarters fighting!" he shouted, "take out your knives and save your bullets men!"

The marines fought hard, but in hand to hand combat, the bronze clad warriors had an advantage, and in almost no time the marines were disarmed and taken hostage. The apparent leader grabbed Johnson and put a knife to his neck, "what's stopping me from spilling your blood all over the ground."

"This." Johnson growled and hit the man in the groin, making him fall to the ground in pain, Johnson pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the remaining soldiers; "drop my men," he growled

The soldiers hesitated, they had seen what these men's' weapons could do. And they were weary in setting these men off.

Someone came behind Johnson and hit him behind the head; another Greek soldier stood their, "drag them back to Sparta men." He growled, "we'll find out who they are."

The mechanic hid in the cockpit of the Pelican, "this is bad." He whispered watching as the men dragged the fire team and sergeant Johnson away and left two of their warriors to guard the camp. He heard a crackling over the radio and quickly turned it down.

"Fire team foxtrot, fire team foxtrot, do you read?" Cortana said over the radio.

"This is ensign Draco, Foxtrot has been captured."

"Who captured them?" Cortana asked.

"I think Johnson said they were Greek warriors." He said, "I don't have a weapon on me right now and there's too of them outside, and I don't think a mechanic can take down two warriors."

"Calm down Ensign, I'm sending the chief to get you."

The chief ran through the forest, a flight suit clinging to his frame, he stopped at a tree as his earpiece rang, "any new Intel?" Chief asked, his face hidden by the shadows.

"I found the last location of Fire team Foxtrot, I also know what time we are in, you need to go to Foxtrots' camp, take out two guards that have taken over the camp, and rescue a mechanic, he'll fill you in from there."

Chief sat there confused, "alright." He muttered and started running again, he got to the end of the tree line and looked out, he saw two Greek warriors looking through the crates and warthogs, "so I get to meet my namesakes." He muttered and pulled out a knife.

The two warriors were looking through the camp, "hey Darius!" one shouted, "I found some of their food."

"What is it?"

"I don't understand the markings" he said, "huh..." he opened up one of them and looked at it, "doesn't look very edible."

"How about you throw it away and we'll get some meat when we get back."

He laughed and tossed the MRE to the side, then picked up an Assault rifle "wonder how this works?"

"I saw the brown man pull back on some sort of switch." Darius said, "don't mess with it Maximus, we're only supposed to guard this place."

Maximus held the gun and found the grip, "this is how they held it," he said and studied it, "hey I think I found the switch!" he said and pointed it at a tree, he pulled the trigger and fired five shots, the recoil shot him back and landed on his back, "Damn!" he groaned holding his shoulder, "that hurt!"

Darius laughed, "weak idiot." He said.

"How about you try it?" Maximus muttered irritated.

Darius walked over and picked up the gun, he looked around and saw a large branch, he did his best to aim then pulled the trigger, he emptied what was left of the clip and almost fell over, but kept his feet, the branch blew apart, and Darius smiled, "top that!" he said turning to Maximus and stopped as he saw Maximus slump to the ground, a knife in his neck.

"Beginners luck." Chief said leaning against the Pelican, the exhaust vent covering up his face, "I'd like to see you shoot the head off of an Elite at four hundred yards."

"You…you killed Maximus." Darius growled.

"You attacked my men." Chief said.

Darius pointed the assault rifle at him and pulled the trigger, a small click sounded.

"The clip is empty," chief said, standing up straight, he was a good foot taller then Darius.

Darius picked up his spear and threw it at chief.

Chief caught the spear an inch from his face, and then broke it with two fingers.

"What…what are you!" he shouted.

"I'm John 117" he said then pulled his knife out and threw it, hitting Darius in the neck. He looked down at Maximus, the warrior was as big as chief, "Hmm…" chief muttered.

"Ensign!" Draco heard someone shout, "Sound off."

"I'm here Master Chief." He said getting up and running out, he got out in time to see master chief pull Maximus' helmet over his shaven head, "you alright Ensign?" he asked turning around, completely clad in Greek armor.'

"Yes sir," Draco said.

"Where did they take Foxtrot?" he asked.

"I heard one of them mention Sparta." He said. 'I just don't know which direction that's in."

"I'll contact Cortana." Chief said and walked away "Cortana," he said, "we need directions.'

"Where too?" Cortana asked.

"Sparta."

"Chief, it sounds like your about to find your ancestors," Cortana said, and found the city, 'it's about a days trek from where you are."

Chief nodded, "alright, I'll be in contact."

"When do we head out Chief?" Draco asked.

"I'm heading out tomorrow morning, you stay here and work on the Pelican." Chief said.

Draco sighed, "fine." He muttered.

Cortana looked through the data files of the ship, "still doesn't make any sense of how we got here.' She muttered, suddenly the bridge was full of bright light, "what is this?" she asked herself, then there was a soft humming, she listened to it, and realized it was a data transmission, "wow…the information…" and just as soon as it had started, the bright light shut off and the hum went away, "an interesting anomaly…I must study this new Intel…"


	2. the reason

Thel Vadam opened his eyes, looking at the sky, "where am I?" he said sitting up, the last thing he had remembered was the ship coming out of slip space roughly and then it crashing. He stood up and looked at his surroundings, he was surrounded by debris from the ship; he could see light shining through holes in a metal wall beside him. He walked over and kicked the metal out of the way, clearing a way for himself, he poked out and looked around, he saw large hills and trees growing everywhere, "this is not earth…" he muttered, and pulled himself out of the wreckage, he looked at the twisted metal and realized he was looking at the aft section of the hull, "where is the other half?" he asked himself, he looked around and saw smoke spiraling up into the sky, "Maybe that's the survivors." He said and started walking towards the smoke, he looked around at everything and realized that it was earth, but a younger one, "is it possible that we travelled back in time?" Thel asked himself as he trekked through the forest until he saw where the smoke was headed, it was a small farm town, the buildings were made of simple stone and wood, cooking fires were preparing an afternoon meal, "well, I can't find any Marines here." He said and started turning to leave when he heard screams, he turned back around and saw men on horses thundering into the town, the women and children ran in terror as the men struggled to fight the attackers, but were soon disposed of, then the attackers tracked down the women and children and rounded them up, after they rounded them up they started pillaging the houses, taking food and weapons, then one of the men grabbed a woman and dragged her towards a house.

"This is where I intervene." Thel growled and activated his cloaking device.

"Get over here!" the leader shouted at the woman struggling to run away, and pull up her torn dress.

"Please! No!" She screamed as he grabbed her by the hair, she kept struggling, trying to get away from him.

He laughed, "your not going anywhere!" he said, suddenly he was lifted into the air, blood spurting out of his chest.

The woman stood and ran back to the others, the soldiers picked up their weapons, ready to fight whatever had come.

The leader was thrown to the side and a figure slowly appeared,

"It's…it's a demon!" one of the soldiers shouted.

Thel stood in front of them; he turned his Energy sword back on. "You attack innocents and expect no repercussions?"

"Kill it!" one of the men shouted. And the ten men charged at Thel.

"Come meet death." Thel growled and ran at them, he slashed one of the men in half and threw another one through the wall of a building, he grabbed one and slammed him into one of his comrades and then threw him into another.

The last five hesitated in attacking.

"What's the matter?" Thel growled, "Do you not want to meet your demise?"

The five backed up slowly, suddenly there was a loud war cry and more men came running down the slope, they attacked the five men and killed them quickly.

One of them turned to Thel, "Back beast!" he shouted, raising a spear at him, "Stay back! Demon!"

A woman ran forward, "Quintus! He is not a demon! He saved us from the Thracians!"

Quintus looked at the woman, then back at Thel, "is what she saying true?"

"It is!" Thel said, "I saw the men attack and decided to intervene."

"Then many thanks my friend," Quintus said, lowering his spear, "without you, this entire village would have been killed.

Thel nodded, "Could you tell me where I am?"

"You do not know where you are?"

"I've been travelling for quite some time," Thel said, "and am in need of directions."

"You are in the lands of Sparta my friend." Quintus said.

He nodded, "where are you travelling from?"

Thel hesitated, "a city named New Mombasa." He said, "It was under attack and me and a few warriors had to flee the city."

"I've never heard of such a place." Quintus said, "Where is it?"

"Thousands of miles from here, in a place we knew as Africa."

He thought about it, "well it must have been a tiring journey."

"Yes, I was separated from my group, and am searching for them now."

"Are they armed?" Quintus asked alarmed.

"Yes they are," Thel said, "what is the problem?"

"If they are in the territory and the troops find them armed, they will either be killed or taken captive."

"Then I must find them first." Thel muttered.

"We will help you in any way we can, but first my friend, let us eat, drink and mourn our dead."

Thel nodded, _then I search for the Sergeant and the demon chief._

Cortana sorted through the information that had been sent to her, "whoever sent this must have vast intelligence…" she muttered, "This information is amazing." She found a file that was different then the others, she opened it and found the information on an ancient civilization, "hmm, these beings are older then the forerunners, but no name for them, only the title…forsaken…" she started reading the Data on them, "no wonder their forsaken, all they did was take over planets…wait…" she went to the rest of the data, "this is slowly making sense…that's why we came back!"

Another shaft of light appeared in the bridge again, "correct!" a deep voice said and a shimmering being stood in front of Cortana.

"And who are you?" Cortana asked.

"I go by many names, from Zeus to Precursor."

"Precursor… you were a being from before the forerunners! But…the data shows that you were all destroyed."

"No, not destroyed, in the final days of the war with the forerunners, several of our kind reached the next form of civilizations, we are now everywhere and nowhere, vast knowledge and power given to us."

"So you're saying you're a god?" Cortana asked.

"No, but very close."

You're the one that sent us here," Cortana said, "but why?"

"The Forsaken is the reason." He said.

"The file say's that there extinct, nothing but a scary story now."

"That is what we thought, when the universe was young these Forsaken ravaged the galaxies, using up one planet after another, suck up ones resource until nothing was left and then move on, when they moved into this galaxy we knew we must act, fleets of millions met these forsaken and engaged them, for thousands of years we had fought, until finally we had eradicated them, or so we thought, a single fleet of the forsaken had taken to slip space in the final battle, we crippled the ship as it entered and thought it destroyed, but now we know, it is about to emerge, and your planet will be in grave danger."

After all these years you would think they would be dead."

"No, they are an ancient race, the only way they die is in battle."

"So how are we supposed to stop them? If they have a fleet then this planet is doomed unless a UNSC fleet is about to fly out."

"This battle has been told for centuries." He said, "it is apart of history, though not a history that most believe is history, you were created for this, even if your creator had no idea of it, it is your destiny, and that of your counterpart, the master chief, to stop the forsaken."

"But how? I'm just a computer construct, I can only take control of the dawn, and it's not exactly up to fighting order."

"True, in your present form you cannot help, but I know of a way to help you with that."

"Oh really?" Cortana asked.

"Yes, but after I do this, go to your docking bay 5012."

"We shut that bay down because of Ghost rumors." Cortana said.

"You will find a friend there to help." He said, "Now, prepare your self for transcendence."

The room glowed brighter and brighter, Cortana sat there in awe, then suddenly a huge wave of pain hit her, she screamed in pain and her AI hologram flickered and went out. The light grew and grew, and then suddenly dimmed, "it is done." The Precursor said. And disappeared.

Johnson woke up in a dimly lit room, "oh, my head." He groaned, "Foxtrot sound off!"

"We're here Sergeant major," one of the men said running over to him, "but keep your voice down, the Greeks out there are having a conversation about what to do with us next, and it doesn't sound too good."

Johnson stood up and walked over to the door and listened.

"…Lets just kill them, the king and the High priestess don't know they're here, kill them and hide their bodies." Someone said.

"That would be best, but how do we explain the loss of half our force?"

"Say that we were ambushed."

"Where are our prisoners?"

"Tell them there weren't any prisoners, now lets just kill them and be done with It." the door opened and four men walked in. "Follow us." The leader said.

"I don't take orders from you," Johnson said, "you raggedy ass looking son of a bitch."

The leader stepped forward and punched Johnson in the stomach,

Johnson doubled over and held his stomach, "that…that all you got cupcake?" Johnson growled.

"Insolent rat." The leader snarled and aimed another punch at Johnson.

Johnson dodged and jumped up punching him in the jaw, two more Spartans grabbed Johnson and threw him out of the room, then drove the rest of the marines out, "march," the leader snarled walking out, the marines started walking slowly.

"Sergeant Johnson what are we going to do?" one of the privates asked.

"Well boys I'm afraid we're gonna die, but we are not going to go their crying in fear, we will sound off and hold our heads high!"

"OORAH!" they shouted,

Johnson started of an old cadence, "1,2,3,4" he shouted.

"MARINE CORP!" The Fire team shouted in unison.

"1,2,3,4"

"MARINE CORP!"

"ARMY, NAVY, WAS NOT FOR ME!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"AIR FORCE WAS JUST A TOO EASY!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"WHAT I NEED WAS A LITTLE MORE!"

MARINE CORP!'

"I NEED A LIFE THAT IS HARD CORE."

"MARINE CORP!"

"PARRIS ISLAND IS WHERE IT BEGAN!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"A LITTLE ROCK WITH LOTS OF SAND!"

MARINE CORP!"

"I CANT FORGET ABOUT HOLLY WOOD!"

MARINE CORP!"

"SAN DIEGO, AND IT'S ALL GOOD!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"PT DRILLS ALL DAY LONG!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"KEEP ME RUNNING, FROM DUSK TO DAWN!"

"MARINE CORP!"

"1,2,3,4"

"MARINE CORP!"

"TELL ME NOW WHAT YOUR WAITING FOR!"

The Spartans listened to their prisoners sing the old Cadence, "who are these men?" one asked.

"I don't know," the leader growled, "but I'm killing their leader."

They lead the marines out into a field with a single tree stump in the center, they made them stop and two men went forward and grabbed Johnson, "you die first!" the leader growled,

Johnson said nothing; the leader pushed him to the tree stump and forced him to his knee's, "any last words?" The leader asked standing in front of him.

"Yeah, Piss off." Johnson said and spat on the ground in front of the leader.

The two men put Johnson to where his neck was on the tree stump, one of the men pulled out his sword and walked over.

"Boy's when you get to the gates of heaven, I'll be guarding them!" Johnson shouted.

The executioner went over to Johnson and lined up the sword with his neck, he brought the sword up and started bringing it down.

"STOP!" someone shouted, and the man stopped, "what is going on here!"

"High priestess!" one of the men said and they all got to their knees and bowed.

"High priestess, I thought you were on a pilgrimage?" the leader said.

"I came back after I heard you captured someone mordachai," she said, walking forward.

"This is none of your concern." He growled.

'I believe it is, mordachai," she said icily, "I handle the business of prisoners, whether they will be executed or saved."

"These men aren't good for salvation," mordachai said,

"I will decide that." She said, "Cut this one loose," she said pointing at Johnson.

One of the men went forward and cut the rope holding Johnsons hands together."

Johnson stood up and looked at the woman, she was five foot four and her skin was as white as snow, her hair was raven black and her eyes were blue.

"Speak your name, barbarian." She said to Johnson.

"I am Sergeant Major Avery Johnson Junior." He said standing at attention.

She walked around him sizing him up, he pulled out a knife and nicked his arm, she looked at the blood then licked it off of the blade, "a warrior," she said, "Physically and mentally stronger then most of his unit. The obvious leader."

"Damn, you can tell all that from my blood?"

"And from the way you carry yourself, the way these men revere you," she turned to Mordachai, "I deem them worthy."

Mordachai glared at her, "of course you know these men cannot just be freed." He growled.

"They can if I say."

"Not this time Priestess, they will go through the trials, and if they fail, I will kill them.' He gave the signal and his men left.

"Thanks for saving my ass." Johnson said walking over to the Priestess.

She looked at him, "for your sake I hope you are strong," she said, "The trials are fierce."

"What are the trials?" Johnson said, "Cause I've already gone through a few trials."

"You will be sent to the arena to fight for your freedom, in there it's kill or be killed, and if you surrender you will be sold into slavery."

"Well I'm not the surrendering type, and I've killed things bigger then those men." Johnson said

She looked at him, "you are confident, that will help." She started walking away, "follow me, and I will lead you to your beds for the night."

The men followed her, Johnson walked beside her, "so what's your name?"

"I am High Priestess Eleni," she said, "I am the head advisor for the king of Sparta.'

He nodded, "why did you step in to save us?"

"At first I was going to let you die, but you and your men seem different, like an answer to our prayers."

"Well, I've been known to be the answer of many women's prayers." Johnson said, "I could show you a few ways I answered them if you want."

She looked at him, "I am a Priestess, I cannot mingle with men."

"Is that year round or seasonal?"

She smiled, "it is year round." She said. Then opened the door of a small house, "you will stay in here until tomorrow, I will send someone to bring you food, and I'm sorry but I will have to lock you in.

"Alright men, get in, and hunker down, tomorrow we go back to war."

"Oorah!" they said and walked in.

Johnson turned to her, "you know, if I win tomorrow maybe I could get a little gift from you."

She looked at him, and then smiled, "perhaps." She said then pushed him into the room and closed the door, locking it.

"Smooth sergeant." One of the guys said laughing.

"Can it," Johnson said, and walked to the window.

Chief looked down on the city of Sparta, ""Cortana." Chief said into his comms link, "Cortana come in, I've found the missing troopers…Cortana do you read?" He sighed and turned his comms link off, he walked down into the city, many people stepped aside and gave a small bow to him, _this guy must've been important, _chief thought to himself.

"Soldier!" someone said walking over, he looked over and saw a woman walk towards him, another woman with a trey of food trailed after her. "I need you to take food to the prisoners, they'll need their strength for tomorrow."

"Yes ma'am, where are they?"

"Four door down." She said and walked away, the woman with the food started walking back, Chief followed, when they got their chief took the trey from the woman, "I'll take it from here." He said, 'just give me the key."

"Yes captain." She said and gave it to him, she walked away after that.

Chief unlocked the door "Johnson, foxtrot sound off." He said walking in.

"Chief!" Johnson said standing up, "I think this is the first time I've ever seen your eyes."

"Don't start that now Sergeant, now what's been going on?"

"We were ambushed a few days ago, we fought um as long as we could but we were over run."

"I know that, but what is happening tomorrow?"

"We're being sent to the arena, to fight for our freedom."

"Well that should be relatively easy." Chief said.

"I don't think so, this leader of theirs… he doesn't want us to live, so I think he's going to try something.

"First sign of trouble I'll step in." chief said, "now I'm going to go and check on the mechanic, maybe we can get a ride out of here by tomorrow."

"Alright chief."

Chief pulled out an extra comms link, "keep in touch." He said and ran out.

Cortana groaned, "what was that…" she muttered and started pushing herself up, she looked down and saw human hands, "What!" she screamed falling back, she looked down at herself, seeing the naked body of a normal woman, "how…what…" she stood up, looking at her new body, "how did he do this?" she muttered, she slowly stood up, looking at her naked frame, "couldn't poof me up some clothes?" she muttered, she started walking down the corridors, self conscious about being naked, she knew no one was alive on the ship, she kept looking around, thinking someone would walk around the corner and see her. She went into the women's locker room and rummaged through the lockers, she found a locker with the size of clothes that fit her, 'well thank you Private Wells." She muttered as he pulled on the gray uniform, she walked out of the room fully clothed, she walked through the corridors again and stopped when she got to docking bay 5012, "what is in here that is so important?" she muttered to herself, she opened the door and walked in, looking around, there was a soft crash startling her, she turned to one sighed and saw a crate on the ground broken, "hello?" she said, "Is someone there?"

Another crash sounded and she turned around, she saw a small blue spark flew through the air, 'who is that?"

A soft blue glow showed behind two crates, she walked towards it, "hello?" she said looking over the crates.

A small holographic image of a man walked out, "hello, I am 05-032 Mendicant Bias, AI in charge of defense against the flood."

"I've…I've heard of you, but from what I've learned you were fragmented. Torn apart to your basic components

"Yes, I was…fragmented, but when Offensive Bias tore me apart to shards he had lost a forerunner Dreadnought, that still had one a piece of my mind in it, the race known as the covenant found the Dreadnought and me, they proclaimed me a… Relic, when the Dreadnought went through the portal to the Ark, that remaining fragment joined with the rest, creating what you see now."

"How can you help me stop the forsaken?" Cortana asked.

"I was made for the Defense against flood, the forsaken will not be difficult."

Cortana nodded, "and how are you creating a hologram here?"

"I tapped into the ships main computer, as of sixty seconds ago I am connected to every camera and holoport in the ship."

"Wait…every camera?"

"Yes…except for in the women's dressing room."

"You never hacked into the camera's?"

"Actually I turned it off as soon as it turned on and I saw you in it nude."

Cortana turned red, "well turning away from that conversation, meet me on the bridge, we got some work to do."


	3. trickery

Thel sat under a tree, watching the villagers putting their dead in rows.

A small boy walked over to him.

Thel looked at him, 'yes?"

The little boy looked at him then at his sword, "are you an angel?" he asked.

"No little one, I am not an angel."

"then…are you a demon?"

Thel chuckled, "No, I'm not a demon." He said, "though I have met a demon before."

"then what are you?" he asked.

"orik! Leave the man alone!" quintus said walking over.

The little boy ran down the slope, back into the town.

"Sorry about him," quintus said, "hes' an inquisitive one."

"it is alright," Thel said, "inquisitiveness helps a young one learn."

Quintus nodded, "I expect you'll be leaving us soon?" he asked.

"as soon as your dead are buried I will leave." He said.

"well we're about to start eating if you are hungry."

"I couldn't take your food." Thel said.

"it's not taking, we are giving it to you, you deserve it after helping us."

"Thank you my friend." Thel said.

Quintus nodded.

A man on a horse rode into town, "where is your leader!" he shouted.

Quintus stood up and ran over, "what is it?" He asked.

"you are summoned to a council meeting in Sparta." He said, "the meeting is in three days, do not be late." The man turned his horse and rode away."

Quintus sighed, "if their calling a meeting then something big is going on…" he muttered. "I'll leave after supper."

Thel walked over, "I will go with you, maybe I will find my comrades in this Sparta."

He nodded, "But you better not go there like this, the spartan warriors might see you as a threat."

He nodded, "I will work on that…" he said.

Johnson and Fireteam Foxtrot followed a few Spartan warriors to an arena, 'choose your weapons," one of the men said.

Johnson looked at all the weapons on the walls, "swords, spears...give me a good rifle any day." He muttered. "boy's arm yourselves." Johnson said.

"what about you sarge?" one of the privates asked.

"I'm going out there with my fists." Johnson said pulling out a cigar and lighting it.

"are you ready?" the guard asked.

Johnson nodded and they went into the arena. Hundreds of people ringed the arena.

"Sarge I'm not having a good feeling about this." Corporal Vickers said.

"just remember your training Vickers," Johnson said taking a big puff out of his cigar, "you'll survive."

Mordachai walked out, "Prisoners!" he shouted, "today you fight for your freedom!"

"No shit!" Johnson shouted back, "I thought we were going on a picnic."

Mordachai turned red, "watch your tongue!" one of the guards shouted.

The marines snickered and Johnson stared the guard down.

"meet your executor!" he shouted, as the doors opened, four Gladiators walked out, each one of them armed to the teeth.

"so we get one weapon a piece while their a walking armory," Johnson said, "talk about a fair fight."

The gladiators stood in a line.

"if you want to plead for mercy then go ahead." Mordachai said.

"boys! Are you going to give up?" Johnson shouted.

"SIR NO SIR!"

"hell yeah you won't give up! What you will do is send these low down sons of bitches to an early and well deserved grave!"

"kill them!" Mordachai shouted, and the gladiators gave a loud scream and charged at the marines,

"Charge!" Johnson shouted and ran at the nearest gladiator, he jumped up and kicked him in the jaw.

Vickers ran forward and slammed his shield into one of the gladiators chest, making him fall, he ran forward and stabbed him in the chest, the man screamed in pain as the sword pierced through his abdomen.

Johnson grabbed the Gladiator around the neck and jerked upwards quickly, breaking his neck, 'anyone else?" he shouted. The marines regrouped around Johnson, the gladiators all dead.

Mordachai looked around the arena, guards were slowly moving around the entire arena, "see if you can fight these." He growled.

The gate opened up again and this time Lions came out, snarling and roaring for blood.

"uh sarge, I didn't sign up for this."

"can it Vickers Before I kick your ass, I want you, Polaski and gomez to pick up your shields and try to make a shield wall, any of those lions jump at you kill it."

"what about you sarge? I know your tough but theirs about ten lions,"

Johnson looked at the man he had just killed and picked up his war hammer, "I'm going to do what any self respecting man would do," he said, "I'm going to beat the shit out of them with a hammer." He ran forward and the three marines got together.

Johnson slammed the Hammer into one of the Lions, breaking it's skull in, then he turned and kicked another one that was running at him,

Vickers and the fireteam pushed a few lions back, one jumped at Vickers and it landed on him, he struggled to keep it from biting him while reaching for his sword.

Three lions jumped at Gomez and knocked him down, the man slashed one across the face but soon the lions started mauling him, Gomez screamed in pain as the lions tore him limb from limb,

"GOMEZ!" Vickers shouted, and killed the lion that had jumped on him, "Polaski! Help gomez!" he shouted.

POlaski stabbed one of the lions, "I'm a little busy at the moment!" he snarled,

Vickers got up and ran to his fallen comrade, killing one of the lions, and scaring the other two back."SARGE! WE'RE GETTING CREAMED!" Vickers shouted dragging Gomez away from the Lions.

Johnson smashed another skull in, "quit playing with the damn cats and kill them!" he shouted,

"easier said then done," Polaski shouted backing up until he was beside Vickers and Gomez, the two marines put Gomez behind them and held up the shields and swords, "you know when I was a kid this would have been awesome," Polaski shouted stabbing a lion in the throat.

"what kind of screwed up child hood were you having!" Vickers screamed, hitting a lion in the side with his shield then stabbing it,

Johnson ran over and hit one of the lions away, "buck up marines!" he shouted, "I'll take care of this one! You get the other two!"

Polaski ran forward and hit the lion back with his shield, Vickers was hit back onto the ground and the lion pounced, trying to rip out his throat, "help!" he shouted, reaching for his sword.

"Vickers!" Johnson shouted.

The lion roared then had it's head cut off, it slumped to the side, Vickers looked up and saw Gomez standing there, a bloody axe in one hand, his other one had been torn off, "couldn't let you have all the fun," he muttered and fell down, Vickers crawled over to him, "you did good buddy," he said, helping gomez up.

"alright Jackass!" Johnson shouted, "we went through your trials, now let us go!"

Mordachai stood up and held up a hand, all the guards pulled out bows.

"Mordachai!" Eleni shouted, "what is the meaning of this!" she started walking towards Mordachai but two guards stopped her,

"I'm sorry high priestess," Mordachai sneered, "but your services are no longer required.

"when the king heres of this!" she started.

"his corpse can't do anything," Mordachai said.

"you snake!" she shouted.

He laughed, "what can you do?"

Suddenly a knife whizzed through the air, killing one of the guards in front of Eleni, then a spear flew out and slammed into the other one.

"what!" Mordachai shouted turning around.

A man in greek armor jumped over the side of the arena, ten spears tied to his back and a sword in each hand, he ran through the stands killing the guards, one of them pointed his bow at him and he pulled out one of the spears and hurled It, killing the guard instantly.

"this is impossible!" Mordachai shouted.

Eleni picked up a knife and stabbed Mordachai in the back, he screamed in pain and turned around slapping her.

"you son of a bitch!" Johnson shouted at Mordachai and started climbing the side of the arena.

Eleni looked up at him, 'you will die today Mordachai,' she said, "just as I have predicted.'

"sorceress! He shouted, "I will rid myself of you!"

Johnson tackled him to the ground, "you ain't touching that woman." He growled punching him.

Eleni stood up and watched as Johnson snapped Mordachai's neck and stood up, "you alright ma'am?" he asked.

"I am fine," she said as the man in armor walked in, "who are you warrior?" she asked.

"Eleni, this is master chief," Johnson said, "he's our leader."

He nodded to her, 'ma'am." Chief said.

"I thank you," Eleni said, "for helping us in this time of crisis."

He nodded again.

"Sarge!" Vickers shouted, "Gomez isn't looking too good!"

Johnson jumped down and ran over, "I don't think anyone looks good missing an arm." He said pulling out a med kit, "glad those jackass's didn't take this off of me," he said.

Chief walked over and turned on his comms, "Cortana," he said, "is the pelican fixed?"

"chief! Finally, yes the pelican is up and running."

"well we need a medevac fast!"

"I'll send him, I'll tell him to turn on every light that pelican has, better they think it's heavenly light then a ten ton steel flying bird."

"alright."

"and chief, when you get back we have a lot to discuss."

"alright cortana," he said, turning off the comms.

Johnson put biofoam on Gomez's arm, "when's that pelican getting here?"

"pretty soon," Chief said looking at the sky and seeing a black dot coming, suddenly it illuminated as all it's lights came on, it stopped right over the arena and came down.

Eleni watched the lights, "by the gods…" she whispered and fell to her knee's praying.

The pelican landed and Chief and Johnson carried Gomez into the pelican, Vickers and Polaski following, as soon as they got in the pelican sped off, leaving the crowd amazed at what they had just seen.

Chief walked through the halls of the dawn towards the bridge, "Cortana," he said going into the bridge, "Cortana where….cortana?" he asked seeing a woman looking out the window.

Cortana turned around, her blue eyes calculating, "chief," she said walking over, "we have much to discuss."


	4. the enemy

Chief sat in front of Cortana listening to her story, "so a precursor came?" he asked, "I thought they were completely died out."

"Apparently a few have survived," Cortana said, "except these ones have reached the next level of civilization."

"The 'psychic phase' as some calls it." Mendicant said walking out, "they are so advanced that they're pure energy, they can do as they wish, from sending a ship back in time to giving Cortana a body."

"Yes thank you Mendicant bias." Cortana said, "He warned us of an evil coming to us, a race of beings known as the forsaken."

"And we're supposed to kick their Asses and send them back to the bottomless pit they came from." Johnson said.

"Correct," Cortana said, "but we have to do it in secret."

"…Ma'am do you know how the marines work?" Johnson asked, "we go charging in on the biggest baddest piece of marine hardware we can find with our guns blazing."

"Well this time your going to be trying not to let everyone know you're from the future." Cortana said.

"And how do we do that?" Vickers asked.

"Well one way is to disguise our weapons as Greek weapons, which wouldn't be too hard but still a pretty big task, another is to fight with the weapons that the Spartans use, Spears, swords you know that kind of things, and I doubt that will help against the forsaken."

"So lets turn our assault rifles into swords." Polaski sad, "Just put blades on them, make it look good."

"Well there's a problem with doing that," Cortana said, "how do you explain the bullets coming out of your sword?"

"Easy, their mystical weapons." Vickers said.

Cortana sighed, "I don't want these people seeing us as mystics, that's a good way to get us all killed."

"Technically speaking not all of us would be killed, I would still be able to function no matter what they do to me." Mendicant said.

"Way to be cheerful tinker bell." Johnson muttered.

"There's another problem too, from what the precursor said, the Forsaken has a fleet of hundreds. We don't have the technology to stop them."

"Not necessarily," mendicant said, "have you ever heard of the Russian cauldron?"

"The thing they make soup out of?" Vickers asked.

"No, these cauldrons hide under the ground, some times they surface, but they are still considered myth, these domed shaped structures are what the ancient humans made to protect the planet from invasion."

"Okay, so?" Johnson asked.

"I believe I found the command center for them," he said, "well, we'll find out in a few days when the Forsaken come."

"We only have a few days?" Johnson asked, "damn."

* * *

Thel walked into Sparta beside Quintus, Thel had made a disguise over the night, he had made a cloak out of some materials that the village people didn't need to hide his body, then a broad straw hat that shadowed his face, he also wore a rag around his mouth and the back of his neck to keep everyone from seeing his mandibles, 'where is the meeting?" Thel asked,

"Inside the meeting place." Quintus said, they passed a group of guards who looked curiously at Thel, their hands on their weapons, "of course if we get to the meeting place without one of the guards trying to kill you is going to be a miracle."

"I am in disguise, why would they attack me?"

"Well your taller then anyone else here and your covered in clothing that doesn't let anyone see your identity, it's kind of suspicious."

"It matters not." Thel said, "they cannot defeat me in a fight."

"I'd rather not start anything here."

Thel nodded as Quintus walked into a large building, "I will stand out here, see if I can find my comrades," Thel said, "I will meet you here after your council meeting."

Quintus nodded, "thank you Thel for helping Me." he said.

Thel nodded, walking away.

Quintus walked into the meeting place, the doors closing behind him.

Thel walked down the dirt streets looking around, he saw an old house and walked into it, the room was dimly lit with hay on the floor that were used as cheap bedding, he walked in and looked around, he picked up a cigar butt and looked at it, "well now I know that the Sergeant was here." He muttered, "but where did he go to?"

A soldier walked in, "your not allowed in here!" he shouted.

"The men that were in here, where were they taken?" he asked.

"About four days ago they were taken to the arena, they fought for the freedom, and then they were taken by the gods."

"The gods?" Thel asked, "what gods?"

"I don't know, now get out!" he said pulling out his sword.

"I will comply," Thel said, "But next time you pull your sword out against me, I will not take it so lightly." He pushed passed the soldier and kept walking, _the AI construct must have helped them get away, _he thought, _but where are they? _He sighed and walked back towards the meeting place, suddenly arrows flew out of the sky, falling into the city, Thel hid under the overhang of a roof, the arrows thudding into the roof, soldiers fell to the ground with arrows in their bodies, a hundred screaming war cries sounded as armored men charged down the street.

"Thracians!" one of the soldiers shouted, "Spartans! To arms!" the Spartan soldiers picked up their weapons and ran at the Thracians, but they had been completely blind-sided and were being pushed back.

A Thracian ran at Thel screaming, Thel pulled out his energy sword and turned it on, stabbing the man through his chest, as he did the cloak he wore tore apart showing the arbiters full body armor and exposing his mandibles. Thel grabbed the hat and threw it way, "the time for hiding is over," he growled and charged at the Thracians, he killed one trying to kill the man who had confronted him in the house, 'if you value your life stand and fight!" Thel shouted at him.

The man looked at him then slowly nodded, pulling out his sword and running back into the throng, Thel looked at the advancing Thracians and growled, "tonight they die!" he shouted and ran at the Thracians

When the Thracian's saw a demon charging at them, a few lost heart and ran, the others locked shields, "do not let the Demon frighten you!" the leader shouted. "Band together!"

Thel ran at the shield wall then jumped over them, he landed and turned around, cutting down the leader quickly, he went to work killing the rest of the team as more Spartans ran into the streets, most not even in their armor, nothing but a sword protecting them from deaths icy grip.

Thel was hit against a wall and sank down to the ground.

"I kill the Demon!" the man shouted raising his sword, someone threw a spear and hit him in the chest, making the man fall, the same soldier that Thel saved ran over to him, offering a hand, "if you value your life you will stand and fight," he said smirking.

Thel took his hand and stood up, "I thank you," he said, then turned to the Thracians and parted his mandibles letting out a loud roar, then charged, three Spartan soldiers beside him.

The fight was quick and bloody, soon Thel stood with the Spartan warriors at his back, Thracian bodies littered the ground.

"Thank you," The soldier said, "we would have been lost were it not for you, what is your name stranger?"

"My name is Thel Vadam," he said, "otherwise known as the Arbiter."

He nodded, 'I am Andreas, son of Heron."

Thel nodded, he looked up as more Spartans ran over, "the Thracians have captured the meeting hall!" one shouted.

Thel looked over, "Quintus." He said running towards the meeting hall.

"Thel it's too dangerous!" Andreas shouted running after him.

* * *

Quintus was thrown against a pillar.

"Do you give?" the Thracian commander shouted at him.

'Fuck you," Quintus groaned.

'You little…" the leader snarled and pulled out his sword.

"Leave him." A gruff voice said.

"Yes my lord." He said putting it up.

Thel snuck into the meeting place, he looked in and saw Quintus on the floor, bruised and bleeding, he also saw five humans with a gigantic…thing. The monster was eight feet tall with gigantic horns, his skin was dark grey and rough like a rhino's hide, his teeth were sharp and pointed, though he did not wear much armor, the spear like blaster on his back looked menacing, "what is that…" he muttered.

"This will be a fine place to set up shop." The thing growled, "you have done well Firenze, when the rest come and take this miserable planet, you and your men will be spared."

"Thank you my lord Iapetus." He said.

Iapetus looked around and sniffed the air, "a Sangheili warrior." He muttered, "here?" he pulled the blaster off of his back and looked around, "show your self!" he snarled.

Thel jumped out and brought his sword down on Iapetus, who in turn stopped the attack with his blaster, he kicked Thel back and laughed, "kill him." He said to the Thracians.

Before the Thracians could move, the door burst open and Spartan warriors ran in, quickly disposing the Thracians, three Spartans threw their spears at Iapetus, the spears stuck into him and hung there, but it did not kill the gigantic monstrosity, "you think you can kill me!" he shouted, jumping over to them and smashing a group of Spartans to the side.

Thel jumped over and slashed down, cutting through his skin from shoulder to hip, but he still wasn't dead, Iapetus hit him away with his blaster and fired at him, Thel rolled away, narrowly escaping death.

"For Sparta!" Andreas shouted jumping down and slashing with his sword, the sword caught on his horns and Andreas hung there.

Iapetus grabbed Andreas and gripped his neck, choking him.

Thel picked up his energy sword and jumped on top of Iapetus, he let out a roar and stabbed him through the skull, and Iapetus let out a groan and fell to his knees, then fell face first into the ground.

"The beast is dead!" one Spartan cheered.

"Great…" Andreas' muffled voice said, "Now get this hunk of meat off of me.

Thel walked over to the dead alien and pushed him off.

Quintus walked over to Andreas' sword and pulled it off of the horn, the sword was bent and almost crumpled, "our weapons are no use against these beasts." He said, "They aren't strong enough."

Arbiter nodded, then walked over to the dead beast, he picked up it's weapon and looked at it, "this is a powerful device." He muttered, and then his comm went off.

"Arbiter…are you there? Come in arbiter.

Thel recognized the voice, "Sergeant, where are you?'

"I'm about a mile out, I'm gonna drop by and pick you up, we got a lot to tell you."

"What of the Spartans?"

"For now they're on their own," he said, "meet me outside.'

"I understand, arbiter out." He looked at everyone they had heard the entire conversation, "I will return." He said, "be prepared for war though." He walked out and climbed to the top of the meeting hall as a pelican flew over, he jumped up and latched onto the back as it quickly climbed in altitude.

* * *

Deep in slipspace hundreds of warships flew towards earth, inside the flagship two of the Forsaken were conversing, one was taller then the other, and the obvious leader.

"I have word from Iapetus." The smaller one said, "He has gained allies and is about to attack the Spartans.

"Excellent." The leader growled, "Everything is going according to plan. Soon we will take that insignificant ball of dirt, and from there we will rebuild our civilization, and then take this entire solar system."

"My lord." Another said walking in. "Iapetus is dead."

"What!" he thundered turned to him, "how do you possess this knowledge Prometheus."

"I watched from the video feed, he was killed by a Sangheili."

"A Sangheili On Earth? I think you are looking at the wrong feed Prometheus."

"I watched it myself Hyperion," Prometheus said, "and I've also seen a ship, a human ship crashed on the planet.

"They are thousands of years away from that technology." The leader snarled, "are you sure of this Prometheus?"

"Lord Cronus, have I ever been wrong?" he asked.

"This is impossible." He growled, "Time travel in itself is impossible."

"How could this be?" Hyperion asked.

Cronus heard something whisper in his ear and he became angry, "The damned Precursors!" he snarled.

"What?" Hyperion asked, "I thought the Precursors were dead."

'No," Cronus growled, "only evolved, they brought human protectors from the future to battle us." He slammed his fist into the side of his chair, "this could ruin everything!"

"Sir, only one crashed ship against our fleet of hundreds?" Hyperion asked, "We will crush them!"

"You don't know what defenses they brought with them Hyperion." Prometheus said.

"I know its will do no good against us." Hyperion said.

Cronus stood up, "I want us in the atmosphere of earth by tomorrow." He growled, "I want the slaves to be working round the clock to make these damn ships go quicker!" he walked out _I am not letting these humans stop me._

* * *

Captain James Cutter stood on the deck of the UNSC _spirit of fire, _in front of him was a Spartan in green armor, he wore a scout helmet and extra sniper rounds on his shoulder.

"So…Spartan Jun, care to explain what happened?" he asked looking out onto the destroyed planet of Reach.

"The war found Reach sir." He said, "it stood for a few weeks but was over run, I was almost killed a few times.'

"Spartan." Douglas said, he was angry and saddened to see his home of reach to be destroyed, "why are you alone the only one still alive?'

"Most of us were killed." He said, "I witnessed the death of thousands of marines and my Spartan brethren, it was a slaughter, not even a fight."

"And what of the UNSC?" Alice asked.

"Last I heard the war is over." Jun said, "ended not too long ago, but I haven't been anywhere to find out yet."

Cutter nodded, "I'm going to send a few scavenger teams out to obtain another slipspace drive." He said, "then we'll get to earth and sort this mess out."

"Sir…" Jun said, 'have you heard anything from Noble Team? I broke from them to help Dr. Halsey to Castle base, I lost radio contact with them as we arrived at the base…"

"Son we know nothing right now, all we know is that Reach is Dead…" Cutter walked to the viewport, "the jewel of the UNSC is now nothing but rubble…"

Alarms went off, snapping the captain out of his thoughts, "what is it now?"

'Slipspace rupture sir!" one of the crew said, "it just opened and isn't closing…I think it might be The UNSC trying to get us home."

"Full speed to that rupture!" he said, "calls the search parties back as soon as you can!"

"Yes sir!"

Alice looked at the rupture, "how is it that the UNSC can do this?"

"There's a truce with the covenant, maybe they're sharing technology." Jun said walking over to her, "I wouldn't be surprised if we are."

"But still, "Alice said, 'It strikes me as odd…"

Jun shrugged, "Just let it go its course."


End file.
